JASMINE'S POV
I stared at the phone like it had just punched me in the throat.
"So this was all mine?" I asked in a horse voice that was barely recognisable to my own ears.
Kaiden didn't hesitate. "Legally, Heart Enterprises was passed to you upon your twenty-fifth birthday. Your father had a clause written in the original charter and buried it in a sealed file. The company was never Vale's. He was just holding it. Temporarily."
My thoughts scrambled, twisting in all directions as I tried to make sense of it. "That doesn't make any sense. I turned 25 last year. Why wouldn't I know about this? Why wouldn't he just tell me?"
"Because if you knew too early," Aiden said, eyes locked on mine, "someone could have used you as leverage. You were a child. A high-profile target. This… this kept you safe."
"Or, he never intended to let you know in the first place."
My stomach turned violently, like I'd swallowed something rotten.
